Ok, Ok, that picture is not actually from Idaho, I think we were somewhere near Moses Lake when I took it, but I liked it and couldn’t think of a better way to get it included. I’m not that clever.

More details on why we are in Idaho later, but we are at a place that has a lot of significance for us as a couple. Mostly b/c of this:

ohhhh don’t you just love the suspense?!?!

Sickness update:

Most of the bronchial issues have subsided!! I can breath and talk again without immediately collapsing into a writhing coughing fit and convincing people who are pretty much 2 seconds away from calling an ambulance, “no, really I’m OK”.

The mornings are still pretty rough. Lots of time for all of that slimy mucus to just set up an apartment in my chest and nose and invite all of their friends and family over for a BBQ. When I wake up in the morning its EVICTION time and it’s really not pleasant for anyone. BUT, every day is better and better and easier to kick all that non-rent-paying mucus us to the curb never to return again.

In other nail-biting news…I’m turning into a fancy schmancy self-hosted blogger on Monday. There (crossing-fingers) shouldn’t be any difference to those of you who miraculously (and I am incredibly thankful for that miracle) come and visit my little spot on the web. However, if you notice any issues, please feel free to let me know.

Till then…I hope your weekend is filled with laughter, fun and a little something else that starts with Hunger and ends with Games. I know mine will be!

After the great tragedy of Monday night, my bestie Brandy suggested I try the Thundershirt for Guinn and Chloe girl. I of course, had no idea what that was so I Googled it and then instantly bought one. Willpower-0, Impulse buying- 1.

Basically it is a shirt/harness type thing that “hugs” your dog in all the right pressure points and Blammo! magic occurs and they become less anxious and less well, naughty.

and look, it comes in sylish navy blue rugby. Guinness would settle for nothing less.

It’s supposed to help with all sorts of things including separation anxiety, barking, and nervousness caused by (who would have guessed???) thunder.

I don’t know that separation anxiety necessarily causes Guinness’s love of tearing apart trash, BUT he does do a LOT of barking when the door rings or he hears anything at all that resembles a knock on the door. (Pizza commercials included). He also HATES 4th of July with a fiery passion. He is nervous and shaking the whole night (and also the following two weeks b/c of all the leftovers). Chloe girl has severe anxiety in the car and constantly shakes and pants the entire time we are driving. Every. Time. This includes the 3 day trip we took to drive from Albuquerque to Seattle. THREE days of panting and shaking. Poor lil thang.

The Thundershirt website makes it sound like this is the greatest thing since sliced dog biscuits, so to make sure I had an unbiased info, I checked it out on Amazon and read the reviews there. Overall they are very positive with the main theme being that this is NOT a end all cure, but it does in a lot of cases “take the edge off.” So I take it to mean that this shirt has basically the same effect as a whisky shooter with a water back?

So I am anxiously (wait…what?) awaiting the arrival of our new Thundershirt to see what if anything this does to curb some naughty-ness around the Wolfe residence! Stay tuned. But don’t be too anxious or I will have to buy you a thundershirt too.

Until you leave them alone in your room while you have small group and don’t want them begging for food and jumping all over us distracting us from our studies.

Who’s a bad puppy? This guy.

The evidence of bad puppy-ness

SO naughty!! I know it was Guinness, because Chloe will barely jump on the bed by herself much less figure out how to turn TWO trash cans over. She may have contributed to the mayhem once they were turned over, but I know Guinn was the culprit who started it all. Serves us right for not emptying the trash.

This is his “I’m real sorry and I will never-ever-ever do it again until the next time you leave a full trash-can unattended” look.

We weren’t friends for a little while, but then he came and put is head on my arm and looked at me with those eyes and I of course scratched his ears and gave him belly rubs. Cinnamon <—-SUCKER.

The bronchial issues:

I’m pretty sure that my head cold from last week has turned into bronchitis. Sadness times 10. I was just jealous of Paul and wanted to be just like him? After an super quick exhaustive search on the Google, I found this…

What causes acute bronchitis?

Acute bronchitis is usually caused by a virus. Often a person gets acute bronchitis after having an upper respiratory tract infection such as a cold (CHECK)or the flu. In rare cases, acute bronchitis is caused by bacteria.

Acute bronchitis also can be caused by breathing in things that irritate the bronchial tubes, such as smoke. It also can happen if a person inhales food or vomit into the lungs (umm, gross). (HMMM…I was in Vegas breathing a TON of smoke in b/c of the casinos right before I got sick…coincidence? I think NOT!

What are the symptoms?

The most common symptom of acute bronchitis is a cough that is dry and hacking at first (CHECK). After a few days, the cough may bring up mucus. (CHECK) You may have a low fever and feel tired. (not really, but I do feel kind of more tired than normal)

Acute bronchitis symptoms usually start 3 or 4 days after an upper respiratory tract infection. Most people get better in 2 to 3 weeks. But some people continue to have a cough for more than 4 weeks. FOUR WEEKS???? I hope not.

I felt ok on Fri and Sat but on Sunday the coughing and congestion/mucus really got to me and really started wearing me out. Mornings are by far the WORST. Today I tried this liquid Mucinex stuff and it seems to be working really well. My congestion is less and I don’t feel like I have to cough every 5 seconds. My chest still hurts, but hopefully I will be on the mend soon. Meh.

Do you have bad puppies?

Have you ever had bronchitis? Share your sob story with me so I can commiserate with you!

We have small group on Monday nights and since it’s three couples we usually alternate main dish, side dish and desert. I’m in charge of desert tonight so I have no idea what we will be having for dinner, but I know desert will be good *cough* cookies!

E is for favorite type of exercise:

Probably swimming b/c it is the only thing that I feel like I am actually pretty good at. But I do love biking and am liking running more and more…so we will just say that triathlon-ing is my fave exercise. That’s allowed right?

F is for an irrational fear:

Maybe cockroaches? I’ve had one in my shoe and in my bed before and I pretty much hate all of them with the depths of my soul since then. They are fast and creepy and crunchy. And evil.

G is for gross food:

Coconut. Gross. And carrot cake. Disgusting.

H is for hometown:

The “Q”, ‘Bourque, Albuquerque, NM

I is for something important: There really is only one thing important and that is my relationship with Jesus Christ. He is the reason I exist and He makes life make sense. In every way.

Heard about this one for.ev.er. Not sure why I never got around to it in the theater, but you know what? It happens. Even to the best (movie go-ers) of us. Heard lots about how great the book was. Heard lots about how great the movie was. Let’s move that on up to #1 in the Netflix queue and get this show on the road. Ha. Get it? Its a traveling circus? Ok, never mind….

I was a little hesitant about the main caracter being RP of Twilight fame. I mean honestly even though I am a fan of the Twilight series, I don’t necessarily think Robby P is the best actor out there. He did a decent job though. Once the movie got going, he was believable in this role as opposed to pasty white, sparkly -in-the-sun vampire that I am used to.

I was also pleasantly surprised to see Christoph Waltz. I loved him in Inglorious Basterds and think he is a top notch actor. He was a bad guy in that one and a bad guy in this one so I think I would like to see him in a nice guy role next just to see if he can pull it off.

This movie is beautiful. The cinematography is breathtaking and the story based on a struggling circus in the glory days of the circus was interesting and unique. I am a sucker for animals so the fact that animals were a main character in this movie was a big plus for me.

Warning! If you ARE a sucker for animals like me, this may not be easy to watch in a few places. I’m tearing up now just thinking about it and I had a full on ugly cry session during the movie that I’m pretty sure freaked Paul out a bit. I just cant stand animals suffering. It reaches down inside of me and pulls some of my heart out. So while the scene is brief and we all know that no animals actually got hurt during the movie, it is still tough to watch if you are a big ‘ol animal softie like me.

I definitely recommend this movie. It is well acted, beautiful to watch and makes you want to go see the circus and eat peanuts.

I returned my shin-hurting Saucony’s and went and tried on a few other pairs at Road Runner Sports and settled on these Mizuno Wave Nirvana. They feel really good on my feet and I am so pumped to take them out for a spin!

Like my fancy socks? I usually wear ankle socks, but I had to represent on St. Patty’s day with something green…

Hopefully my lungs will be open enough to at least take these out for a short run/walk tomorrow. I haven’t done any running in almost a week and I miss it!

Welp, it happened. Our first DNF (did not finish). I guess technically its really a DNS (did not start) b/c we didn’t even go to the race.

I woke up around 6 hacking and coughing up all the fun stuff that clogs up in your face when you sleep at night while getting over a cold. Lovely huh? Paul was still feeling feverish and achy. And to top all that off with a cherry, it was snowing this morning. Seriously? In March. Oh yeah right, we live in Seattle. I almost forgot. So we decided to ditch the crowds and snow and stay in bed warm and cozy and coughing.

When we finally did get up, I decided since I had the time, I was going to whip up some meals to freeze. I ended up making 5 meals in around an hour in a half and have about three more to make but I ran out of containers. I’m going to finish up tomorrow. There is nothing better than knowing I have yummy frozen meals that just need 30 min in the oven. Makes nights when getting off work late or having an extra long time in traffic almost a pinch more bearable.

Here is what I made:

Spaghetti Pie (one large container and then I split up the other batch into two smaller containers)

8 oz. spaghetti, broken in 2” pieces

2 Tbsp. soft butter

½ C. grated Parmesan cheese

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. pepper

1 egg, well beaten

1 pound cottage cheese

Cook and drain spaghetti and mix with above ingredients. Set aside.

Brown:

1 pound ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

Drain above, then add 1 jar spaghetti sauce.

Layer noodle mixture in greased 9×13 pan, then top with meat sauce. Top with 12 oz grated mozzarella cheese. Freeze.

When you are ready to eat, thaw and then bake at 350 for 30 min or until warmed through and cheese on top is melty and bubbly.

Tuna Noodle casserole (split into two containers)

1 (16 ounce) package egg noodles

1 (10 ounce) package frozen green peas, thawed

1/4 cup butter

1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup

1 (6 ounce) can tuna, drained

1/4 cup milk

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta in boiling water until al dente, adding peas for the final 3 minutes of cooking; drain.

Melt the butter in the same pot over medium heat. Add the mushroom soup, tuna, milk, and Cheddar cheese. Stir until cheese is melted, and the mixture is smooth. Stir in the pasta and peas until evenly coated.

After I was done being all Martha Stewart in the kitchen we went to go check out a couple houses and then ran some errands. Then we ran into some little girls who beat us up and forced us to buy girl scout cookies. And open them and eat them immediately in the car. Have you seen those girls? They are intimidating, you don’t’ want to tell them no. They will hurt you.

Last night Guinness had a brief love affair with a rubber band. We can’t give him real dog toys b/c well….he ends up “loving” them. Doesn’t matter what it is, a ball, a rope, whatever…somehow he will end up being inappropriate with it. So since he doesn’t get regular toys, he plays with random things he finds around the house. Last night it was a rubber band.

Please don’t mind my heart shorts. Somehow the rubber band landed in them and so he proceeded to play with those too. Who needs cable when you have this kind of entertainment around?

(btw’s….apologies for my crazy formatting in this post. I tried forever for like 20 min to fix it and I couldn’t figure it out. I’m tech savvy to a certain point and then I just give up. Better luck next time I guess.)

WARNING! If you see a small cute lady with a red UNM Lobo shirt on…stay FAR away from her!!! She is a deadly assassin.

We made contact with this assassin last week in Las Vegas and have both been down and out sick all week!

Paul and I both started with some sneezing on our way home from Vegas on Sunday. Monday we both felt “off” and Tue and Wed I stayed home from work with a full on cold. Paul felt crappy too but still had to go to work. Throughout the rest of the week, I have been feeling better, but he has been feeling worse. He went to the Dr. today and looks like he has bronchitis. BOO.

Mom was sick in Vegas and turns out when they got home, Dad got sick too! She is a very very dangerous lady. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

So this week has pretty much been a wash. Aaaannd we were supposed to do this fun thing tomorrow which I am not sure is going to happen now:

BUT being the ever positive optimist that I am, here are some positive/fun things from this week to even out all the gloomy-ness of being sick.

I worked from home a couple days. This is what I get to see when I work from home:

I had a super delicious lunch today at this place:

With this cute gal (whose nickname is Famous, so it only made sense that I put her pic in the blog so she can be even MORE famous)

and one thing I love about this place that I don’t think I have seen any other restaurant anywhere do

The dedication part, not the 18% gratuity part. Pretty sure I have seen other places do that. 🙂

I get these awesome newsletters every day from Crosswalk.com called “Girlfriends in God”. One that I got this week was soo awesome considering the situation we are in right now with our living situation. It really helped to keep me focused and put things in perspective. Here is an excerpt:

How many of us are willing to be a Ruth? “God I don’t see what the future holds. I know others around me don’t see any future for me. I have Naomis in my life who tell me to turn around and go home. But God, you are enough. You are more than enough. You are all I need. I’m moving forward. I’m moving toward You!”

Ruth didn’t see anything bright in a future in Bethlehem. No husband, no home, no children. All she saw was God. And what did God give her in Bethlehem? He gave her a husband, a home, and children. All she saw was God…and God blessed her in ways that surprised everyone – including her own self.

And what happened to Orpah, the gal who turned around and went back home because she believed Naomi’s prediction of a bleak future? Who knows? We never heard about her again.

And last but not least…Guinness was trying to make Paul feel better. Or was it the other way around?

Seriously, no one can feel bad or be down in the dumps with these two jokers around.

The first time Paul and I went to the spa was for his birthday last year. I had a Groupon (of course) for half off facials. So I booked us for that plus massages. I love birthday presents that benefit you as much as the receiver. #selfish.

We went to a swanky spa in swanky Kirkland. We have been back there twice since then (apparently they love offering Groupons) and every time we notice something new about how they totally cater to women as opposed to men.

Our evidence:

Exhibit A:

Greeter to me: “Hi, let me show you where to go, and how to work the lock and explain the awesome bathroom to you” with a giant smile

Greeter to Paul: “Hi, how are you? Do you know where to go? Yes? Great, see ya”

Exhibit B:

Greeter to me while showing me awesome bathroom: “Can I get you a water or tea? Yes? Ok perfect, I will leave it in the relaxation room with a napkin over it.”

I get to the relaxation room and Paul is there with his glass of water. That he had to get himself.

Exhibit C:

What the womens bathroom looks like:

What Paul says the mens bathroom looks like:

Exhibit D:

The lockers in the womens bathroom have keyless locks. All you have to do is remember any four digit code and viola! You are golden.

Paul’s description of the locker (yes, locker not lockers, ) in the mens bathroom.

Exhibit E:

Women get nice, comfy cotton slippers

Paul gets boring plastic-y, uncomf slippers

Exhibit F:Everyone gets chocolate covered strawberries, but somehow Paul’s had a hair in it? They couldn’t have planned THAT could they???

The services themselves are equal. Although Paul will never get a facial again after all the horrid extractions that made him cry. I cried from mine too, so we know they weren’t just trying to torture him b/c he is a dude.

buuuuut, this is what you end up with, so it’s pretty worth the tears

I got some big payback though for being a woman during our last visit a few weekends ago. I lost part of my awesome necklace down the drain. Sadness. I love this necklace. It has three charms, one says “W” one says “P&C” and one said “6.10.11” (our wedding date). I was putting my necklace on over the sink and it slipped out of my hands and 6.10.11 went sliding right down the drain.

(could I look more like a weird ugly fish? I think not)

I did get to shower off in a 18 head shower and sit in the sauna so I guess we are even?